PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The Doctor of Philosophy in Occupational and Environmental Health program is an advanced, research-oriented degree program requiring in-depth study and research in a specialty area within the broad field of occupational and environmental health. It is designed to prepare graduates for careers in academia or research.
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ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
The following are required:
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The applicant must be in good standing with the college or university where currently enrolled or last attended.
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Master’s degree from an accredited institution as well as a master's thesis or equivalent evidence of ability to conduct research.
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Grade point average of 3.25 or above in graduate coursework.
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Completed coursework in differential and integral calculus.
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GRE test is required. Scores should be sent to SOPHAS by using the code 4244.
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Career goal statement uploaded through
SOPHAS.
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Current CV/Resume uploaded through
SOPHAS.
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Three letters of academic or professional recommendation uploaded through
SOPHAS by the recommender. Applicants must list recommenders’ contact information on the application and then upon submission, SOPHAS will send instructions to each recommender on how to submit their letter electronically through the online portal.
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Transcripts:
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U.S. Applicants: SOPHAS requires a separate official transcript from every U.S. and Canadian institution attended. Applicants must arrange for official transcripts from all prior undergraduate, graduate, and professional study institutions to be sent to SOPHAS. Instructions for sending your transcripts to SOPHAS can be found
here. You will need to have a copy of your transcripts in hand so that you will be able to complete the coursework section of the application. Do not enter foreign courses taken at Universities outside the U.S. or Canada into the coursework section of the application.
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International Applicants: Submit transcripts/mark sheets to the World Education Services (
www.wes.org) for a course-by-course evaluation. Applicants must designate SOPHAS to receive the evaluation.
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International applicants are required to demonstrate
English proficiency by submitting
TOEFL (score of 90 or above) or
IELTS (score of 6.5 or above) that meet the
minimum required score. TOEFL scores must be submitted to SOPHAS using the designation code #5688.
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Interview with Admissions Committee (in-person or via web-conferencing).
APPLICATION DEADLINES
Hudson College of Public Health applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and applications will be reviewed as they are complete. All materials must be submitted by the deadlines listed below for full consideration.
PhD in Occupational Environmental Health:
- Spring: October 15
- Fall: June 15
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
CURRENT OU STUDENTS OR ALUMNI APPLICATION PROCESS
Application Instructions for Current OU Students and OU Alumni can be found here.
NON-OU STUDENTS OR ALUMNI APPLICATION PROCESS
STEP 1: SOPHAS APPLICATION
Submit a SOPHAS application (www.sophas.org) and required fee (click here to review information regarding SOPHAS fees and fee waivers). The documentation identified in the ‘Admission Requirements’ section must be submitted in SOPHAS.
STEP 2: SUPPLEMENTAL APPLICATION
Applicants to the OU Hudson College of Public Health are required to submit a supplemental application and fee. The supplemental application is available via the OU Health Sciences Center website at: https://apps.ouhsc.edu/admissions/. Applicants must select the same program(s) in the supplemental application as they did in the SOPHAS application.
PLEASE NOTE: Fee waivers are not available for the supplemental application.
Fee structure for the supplemental application is as follows:
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$100 for one or two professional programs (Certificate / MPH / MHA programs). One professional program = $100. Two professional programs = $100.
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$75 for one or two graduate program(s) (MS / PhD programs).
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$175 for one professional program AND one graduate program (i.e. applicant applies to both the MPH in Biostatistics and the MS in Biostatistics).
CURRICULUM
Minimum course hours excluding research tools must equal at least 90 hours above the bachelor’s degree.
1. Core Competencies (20 hours):
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OEH 6103 Research Methods in Occupational and Environmental Health
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OEH 6793 Aerosol Science
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OEH 6473 Risk Assessment
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OEH 6683 Modeling Technology in OEH
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BSE 6192 Grant Writing Skills in Epidemiology
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BSE 5013 Applications of Microcomputers to Data Analysis (SAS)
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BSE 5173 Biostatistics Methods II
2. Selective BSE electives (courses not from this list require Advisory Committee approval) (9 hours):
Biostatistics
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BSE 5643 Regression Analysis
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BSE 5663 Analysis of Frequency Data
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BSE 5653 Non-Parametric Methods
Epidemiology
3. Requirements not counted toward the minimum course hours above the bachelor’s degree:
Communication selective (if one of these or an equivalent course was not taken at the master’s level):
HAP 7913 Professional Communication
-or-
OEH 5973 Communication and Ethics in OEH
Responsible conduct of research selective:
BSE 5111 Scientific Integrity in Research
-or-
BMSC 5001 Integrity in Scientific Research.
NOTE: Further training in responsible conduct of research (RCR) is required after four years, so students in their 5th year are required to enroll in the Advanced RCR course: BMSC 6011: Integrity in Scientific Research II
Pedagogy/mentored teaching selective:
Preparing Future Faculty Program (BMSC 6202 PFF – Instructional Methods & BMSC 6300 PFF – Supervised Teaching Experience)
-or-
OEH 6200 Imparting Knowledge in OEH (2 hours; 1 credit hour may be waived for PhD students who submit documentation of prior college-level teaching experience as stipulated in the OEH Policy on the PhD Teaching Requirement).
Public health foundational knowledge:
Any PhD student who has not previously completed the core MPH courses or earned a MPH degree is required to complete BSE 5033 Foundations and Overview of Public Health at the first opportunity.
4. Other electives (variable, as deemed necessary by the Doctoral Advisory Committee)
5. Dissertation (minimum of 20 hours but no more than 25 to be applied to the degree)
STEM DESIGNATION
The PhD in Occupational and Environmental Health program is considered a STEM-designated degree program.
A STEM-designated program is an academic program that falls under at least one of the approved categories from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These categories are recognized by the government for their focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics. DHS's updated STEM-designated degree list can be found here: https://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/stemList2022.pdf.